Wednesday, August 4, 2004
THE BATH! I
by Will Uoy<A
AU5I6HT, SPIOBCS.
I DON'T UKE VOU HCPE
AND SO I AM WHUNS TO MAKE
A DEAL. IE YOU LEAVE, I'LL SIVE
yOU THE ONE THINS yOU ALL
Police arrest 13 in anti-terror operation
By Beth Gardiner
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
LONDON — Police conducted anti-terrorism raids in
London and several towns Tuesday, arresting 13 people
believed involved in preparing terrorist acts.
London’s Metropolitan Police said the afternoon and
evening arrests were “part of a pre-planned, ongoing intel
ligence-led operation.”
The men were detained “on suspicion of being concerned
in the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terror
ism,” the police statement said, without elaborating.
The arrests did not appear to be linked to information
Pakistani authorities recently said they had uncovered about
threats to Britain and America.
The police said the arrests were in northwest London,
suburban Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire and in Lancashire,
northwestern England. The Lancashire raid was in the town
of Blackburn and the Hertfordshire arrests were in Luton,
police said.
Detectives were searching homes in all those places in
operations expected to take time to finish, police said.
The suspects, who are all in their 20s and 30s, will be
brought to a central London police station for questioning by
anti-terrorism officers, police said. They declined to specify
the men’s nationalities, but the British Broadcasting Corp.
said they were all of South Asian descent and some were
thought to be British citizens.
“Today’s operation is part of continuing and extensive
inquiries by police and the security service into alleged inter
national terrorism,” the police statement said.
Police suggested the raids were not linked to the terror
threats disclosed by American authorities Sunday to finan
cial industry buildings in New York, Washington D.C., and
Newark, N.J.
Pakistan’s information minister said Monday his country
found plans for new attacks against the United States and
Britain on a computer seized during the arrest last month of
a senior al-Qaida suspect wanted for the 1998 U.S. embassy
bombings in East Africa.
Asked whether the Tuesday raids were linked to the recent
Pakistani discovery, police declined to answer directly, but
noted that the investigation leading to the arrests had been
underway for some time.
While British authorities say the threat from terrorism
remains high, they have not warned of any specific threat like
that announced in the United States. The intelligence behind
the latest U.S. terror warnings was as much as four years
old, and law enforcement officials are trying to determine
whether the plot was current, with terrorists still trying to
organize such an attack.
Police will have up to two weeks to hold the men before
deciding whether to charge them, but courts grant that per
mission only a few days at a time.
Motorcycle clubs shrug off gang image
By Daniel Lovering
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
PATTAYA, Thailand — The pack
cruises into town on machines gleam
ing with chrome, their revving engines
startling bystanders. They wheel up to
a local bar and park carefully, putting
their iron steeds to rest.
The Black Rose Motorcycle Club
has arrived.
This band of bikers _ most of them
Westerners clad in leather and denim _
probably wouldn’t attract much atten
tion on the streets of San Francisco or
Chicago. But on the palm-fringed roads
of coastal Thailand, they are more than
a touch exotic. Pedestrians gawk. A
teenager gives a thumbs-up.
The group is one of the 20 to 30 motor
cycle clubs thought to be operating in this
Southeast Asian country, many of which
count among their members dozens of
Westerners, including oil industry workers,
soldiers, pilots, mechanics and musicians.
“We’re riding fools,” says Lewis
Underwood, 55, of San Francisco, who
co-founded The Jesters Motorcycle
Club in 1996 in Pattaya, a southeast
ern Thai resort notorious for its taw
dry nightclubs and sex businesses. A
bar owner, Underwood has lived in
Thailand for more than 20 years.
Motorcycle clubs like the Black Rose
Club cater to bikers of all ilk, but several _
like Underwood’s _ are dedicated to riders
of classic American-style cruisers, partic
ularly those made by Harley-Davidson.
As recently as the 1980s, Harleys
were rare in Thailand, often imported
by individual enthusiasts. But demand
for the bikes grew along with Thailand’s
economy, which boomed for a decade
starting in the mid-1980s. A dealership
opened in the capital, Bangkok, in 1996.
When the local baht currency tumbled
during the region’s 1997 financial crisis,
many foreigners in Thailand rushed to
buy Harleys at rock-bottom prices, and
the ranks of biker clubs swelled.
The big American motorcycles
remain out of reach for most Thais.
New Flarleys cost as much as $24,500.
The biker clubs project a roguish
image, with names that evoke the street
gang culture of 1950s America: The
Jesters, The Immortals, Heaven’s Devils,
The Ravens. But despite their tough
appearance, many foreign bikers reject
the lawlessness associated with motor
cycle gangs like the Hell’s Angels. The
goal of riding is fun, companionship and
even fund-raising for charity, they say.
Democrats
Continued from page 1
who questions the rationale behind
the warnings. Ridge said the old
intelligence was updated in January,
but he didn’t provide details to satisfy
his skeptics.
“We don’t do politics in the Department
of Homeland of Security,” he said.
One top GOP operative, who works
closely with Bush’s political team, said
the White House appeared to overplay
its hand, and voters may smell politics
behind the warning. A senior U.S.
intelligence official
said there is no doubt
that the United States
in constant danger,
help Kerry persuade voters it
tough enough for the job, thee
said on condition of anonymity.
The Democratic strategy is
the terrorism warnings to rat
ante. Instead of questioning#!
levels have been increased, Ktr|
his surrogates have tried to fiiel
about what Bush has done—oij
to do — to make the cou
since Sept. 11, 2001.
If Kerry strategists are corn;
tactic both undercuts Bush’s n
strong suit and burnishes the Deir,
credentials as commander in cfe
“We are not going to gel
debate over
Tony
111 Par
is
u
but he was concerned
enough about the tim
ing of the announce
ment to ask colleagues
in a weekend meeting,
“Why? Why now? Why
are we raising alarms
about this now?”
The officials spoke
on condition of ano
nymity because they
feared retribution from
the White House.
What kept Kerry and
his campaign quiet is a
... it's clear that
the dangers we
face are real and
that we are not as
safe as we can or
should be.
raining
With 1
— Brooke Anderson
deputy comm, director,
Kerry's national security team
the announcemsi
politically
because it’s cle!:l
the dangers »febly the
are real and that ®ck sur
not as safe as
or should be,”
Anderson, depi
municationsdii
Kerry’s natior
rity team, saidlit
A day earlier, i|
asked the
implement theSij
Commission
als, with ana
lenge: “If thepti
has a sense oft
more complicated matter.
The candidate quickly distanced him
self from former rival Dean, telling CNN:
“I haven’t suggested that and I won’t sug
gest that. I do not hold that opinion.”
Campaign officials said Kerry
would like to believe that Bush is
acting in the nation’s interest. Even
if he didn’t give Bush the benefit of
the doubt, there are enormous politi
cal risks to Kerry questioning the
president’s motives, the officials said,
because a subsequent terrorist strike
would make him look politically cra
ven and shortsighted.
Criticizing the commander in chief for
putting the nation on alert also wouldn’t
... he would call the Congress
get the job done now.”
By inference, Kerry was as
ers: How serious is Bushs
terrorism warning if he woi
Congress to stay on summer w
In Iowa, Gov. Tom Vilsad
Ridge’s warnings serious
tial, but he said they would be
credible if the funding were
homeland security.”
Retired Gen. Merrill A. b
Kerry supporter who was Air
chief of staff during the first Pr
Gulf War, said he did not
administration raised the
alert for political reasons.
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Br
Commons
Continued from page 1
Stone Willy’s pizza, Chick-fil-A and
Common Denominator Grill & Deli,
will remain in operation.
The changes are taking place
because the number of students eating
at the dining center was decreasing,
and it has been running a deficit for
the past three years, Beard said.
Beard said that only two out of 10
Southside residents regularly eat at the
dining center, while five out of 10 con
sistently eat the “fast food” upstairs.
Three out of 10 eat their meals else
where on campus, including Sbisa and
the Memorial Student Center, he said.
Beard said the number of students eat
ing breakfast at the Commons Dining
Center dropped from 900 ste
before 2001 to 450 students in
two years. The number of stii
eating lunch or dinner
1,700 students before 2001 to I 1
the past two years.
Beard said that a Southside
forum in March 2003 and sw>
showed that students value grab!
go food and convenience
all-you-ean-eat cafeteria.
Southside students wantafoodt
similar to the Underground,wliii
located near the Northside don
ries. Beard said.
Fire safety codes also
the decision to move upstairs,
It would have cost $1
more than it cost to renovateS therapy
to redo the Commons Dining 0
Floyd said.
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out of
June 2
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Ford
Continued from page 1
spark new insights and collaborations.”
Ford studies the adsorption and transport of micro-
porous materials. This knowledge helps create optimal
adsorbent materials for separation and reaction pro
cesses in the chemical industry. Primarily, he builds
models of systems on a small scale. Based on how the
molecules interact, he makes predictions about how
material will behave on a visible scale, Ford said.
“In lay terms, he is modeling physical phenomena
and chemical processes at the most basic level,” said
Dr. M. Sam Mannan, director of Mary Kay O’Conner
Process Safety Center. “To be able to look at how
things behave and understand it at the molecular level
is really a frontier of research.”
Ford’s work is noteworthy because he combines
scientific work, research and theory to develop
research tools that will advance the scientific enter
prise, Ford said.
Ford is also the third chemical engineer to receive
the prestigious P.E.C.A.S.E. award in 2000 after receiv
ing the Career Award in that year as well. Only a hand
ful of engineers receive the P.E.C.A.S.E. award from
the White House, which is selected by the president’s
science adviser, Mannan said.
Ford graduated from the State University of New
York at Buffalo in 1991 with a degree in chemical
engineering. He later obtained his master’s degree
and doctorate in chemical engineering from the
University of Pennsylvania. Ford has been at Texas
A&M since 1997.
“At the symposium, (Ford) will be able to give the
fruits of his research to the people who need it out
there,” Mannan said. “People of his caliber from all
over the nation are coming, and it’s a big recognition
issue for A&M. Things are happening there, and for
A&M to be at that table is a good thing.”
Crash
Continued from page 1
“It was devastating, to actually see it hap
pen and know that there probably would not
be a survivor,” he said. “I suppose he was
having engine problems. I think that’s what it
was. He just couldn’t gain the altitude.”
Ann Lowe, 19, who lives across the fair
way from where the plane crashed said she
heard the plane fly low over her house and
then saw it disappear below the treeline. She
ran outside, heard screams and then noticed
her neighbor’s house.
“I felt the heat and heard windows explod
ing in the house,” she said.
Five bodies were recovered from the
wreckage, but emergency crews were still
working Tuesday afternoon to get the sixth
from the smoldering home, Mange said
The plane hit a 3- to 4-foot retaining
between the home and the golf course,
plowed into the home’s back patio area!
plane’s cockpit is lodged in the
blackened rear of the house and smallp
of it litter the yard.
Todd Moore, who lives about
from the house, was golfing whenthep
crashed. He said he ran to the house!
seeing a plume of smoke to see if them
couple who lived there was OK. He dec!
to name the couple, but Brown ideni
them as Laurence and Jacqueline Ellioi
He said neighbors told him Elliottsa"
plane approaching as he stood onani?
patio, and he ran to his wife in thetf
grabbed her and ran out of the I®
Apparently an appliance repairmanwat
in the home, witnesses said.
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